Spam invitation to interview?

[marimind]

I am relatively new to UpWork. I just received a strange "invitation to interview." I don't know the person and wonder if it's possible to receive a spam invitation? The invitation is typed below...

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

There was no job posted and no additional information provided. What alarmed me was that this stranger asked for my email address. Was this a spam invitation?

Thank you, Marilyn

[colettelewis]

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Marilyn M wrote:

I am relatively new to UpWork. I just received a strange "invitation to interview." I don't know the person and wonder if it's possible to receive a spam invitation? The invitation is typed below...

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

There was no job posted and no additional information provided. What alarmed me was that this stranger asked for my email address. Was this a spam invitation?

Thank you, Marilyn

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__________________________

It is not against the rules to ask for an email address, or to give it. However,  t is entirely possible to receive a scam invitation, which IMO this is. If there is no job description, there is no job. Report it and move on.

[marimind]

Thank you Nichola, helpful.

Marilyn

[wescowley · Accepted solution]

It's almost certainly a scam. 

You'll probably find the job posting by looking in the interview section of your job proposals page.  Take a look at the number of people that he invited as the first clue.  Assuming there's nothing about the post that changes your mind about it being bogus, go ahead and decline the invitation (you want to do that rather than ignore because it will count toward your responsiveness ratings once you get more invites).

[marimind]

Thank you, Wes. Your response is helpful. I did look in the job posting (from the invite) and no other information is provided. I did notice the person also invited 60 other freelancers and put a budget of $1K. I agree with you that this is possibly a scam and declined the invitation. 

Again, thank you. I am still new on UpWork and am thankful for this information.

Marilyn

[colettelewis]

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Marilyn M wrote:

Thank you, Wes. Your response is helpful. I did look in the job posting (from the invite) and no other information is provided. I did notice the person also invited 60 other freelancers and put a budget of $1K. I agree with you that this is possibly a scam and declined the invitation. 

Again, thank you. I am still new on UpWork and am thankful for this information.

Marilyn

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_______________________

You should also flag the job as a scam. 

[gilbert-phyllis]

I flagged that one yesterday. I wish they'd be quicker about dealing with this kind of nonsense. I just can't think of a legitimate reason someone needs 99 FLs with their own Instagram accounts and a project budget of $1,000.

[robin_hyman]

I received the invitation regarding the Instagram account as well.  I flagged it immediately.  Scam!!

[Anonymous-User]

Got the same one. The job post had one of questions to answer as "what is your email?". It also said it was looking for 99 FLs, etc. The client had awful ratings, he was slamming most of his workers and his jobs were all suspicious.

Really hoping the change in the connects system remedies this.

Then, poof, it was gone.

[prestonhunter]

Regardless of whether or not one is a fan of Instagram, it is a legitimate, legal company and social media platform. There are many legitimate ways to work with Instagram.

But any time any client is hiring "99 freelancers" to do something, and any time a client wants to hire you to do something with YOUR OWN ACCOUNT... I consider these red flags.

A legitimate job using Instagram (as with other platforms) will involve using that platform's established tools for delegating access to assistants, associates, etc. Instagram has ways to delegate access and authority, and a legitimate Instagram project does not require hiring dozens of hundreds of people and using THEIR personal accounts.

So while I did not see the post myself, and I have no way of knowing if the client was trying to scam freelancers, or scam Instagram, or was doing something completely fine and legitimate... it sounds like a scheme.